Peter Gelb: Why I am standing by Domingo

The Met has confirmed that its general manager held a clear-the-air session on Saturday with chorus and orchestra members to address concerns about Placido Domingo‘s presence at the Met.

Gelb is reported to have downplayed AP allegations of sexual misconduct since all but two of the complainants were anonymous and the story had not been taken further by reputable media. He also insisted that there had been no reports of Domingo misconduct at the Met.

The Met would not conduct its own investigation, he added, but it would abide by the conclusions of the LA Opera inquiry.

Domingo will appear tomorrow at the Met opposite Anna Netrebko in Verdi’s Macbeth.

The Met has issued the following statement to NPR:

‘On Saturday Sept. 21, after the dress rehearsal of Macbeth, Peter Gelb held an open conversation with members of the Orchestra and Chorus as he has done with other groups within the Met over recent weeks. In the meeting Mr. Gelb reiterated how seriously the Met takes accusations of sexual harassment and abuse of power.

‘He explained that because there was currently no corroborated evidence against Mr. Domingo the Met believed that the fair and correct thing to do was to wait until the investigations by LA Opera and AGMA had taken place. He explained that if corroborated evidence is made public either through the investigations or other means, the Met would take prompt action.’